Paul Blakemore was born in London, England, in 1973. He was inspired to follow a career in organic chemistry after working in the East London based laboratories of the pharmaceutical company Rhone-Poulenc (now Sanofi-Aventis) as a sixteen year-old. Upon leaving high school, Paul pursued a double major degree program in Chemistry and Mathematics at the University of Southampton (U.K.). After obtaining his B.Sc. degrees with a double first in 1995, he joined the internationally recognized synthetic chemistry group of Prof. Philip J. Kocienski, then at Southampton, to undertake Ph.D. work in the field of sulfone based olefination methods. Following relocation with the rest of the Kocienski Group to the University of Glasgow in 1996, Paul discovered that trans alkenes can be made with high levels of stereocontrol from 1-phenyl-1H-tetrazol-5-yl sulfones (PT-sulfones). This variant of the so-called modified Julia reaction ("Julia-Kocienski" reaction) is stereocomplementary to the classical Wittig reaction and has since become one of the more commonly used tools of synthetic organic chemistry. Before securing his Ph.D. degree in 1999, Paul went on to apply this method to the synthesis of the D vitamins and the herbicidal polyketide herboxidiene. An enjoyable and highly rewarding period of post-doctoral research then followed within the group of Prof. James D. White at Oregon State University in Corvallis, Oregon. During this time (1999-2001), Paul worked on various projects and had the good fortune to conclude group efforts which culminated in the total synthesis of the pyrrolizidine alkaloid loline, the polyketides polycavernoside A and rhizoxin D, and the realization of the spirocyclic core of pinnaic acid. With a productive post-doctoral stint behind him, Paul was awarded a prestigious Royal Society University Research Fellowship which enabled him to return to the United Kingdom in 2001 to begin his independent research career at the University of Leeds. In January 2005, Paul Blakemore returned to Oregon State University as a faculty member and currently holds the position of Assistant Professor within the Department of Chemistry. Outside of chemistry, Paul is a keen guitar enthusiast and enjoys modern literature, the cinema, and exploring his new home of Oregon.

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Bryan Beall was born in Chico California in 1982. He moved to Eugene Oregon to attend Churchill high school and later graduated from Lane Community College with an associates degree. Bryan is currently a Biochemistry/ Biophysics major at Oregon State University and serves as the Vice-President of the student association for this discipline. Bryan recently joined the BRG to pursue a new found passion for organic synthesis. His research concerns the study of novel implementations of StReCH chemistry. Outside of the laboratory, Bryan's interests include movies, music, gardening, and the outdoors.

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J. Gunderson was born in 1979 in San Jose, California. He was inspired to pursue chemistry as his academic field of interest by his high school chemistry instructor Barbara Kornas. In 2005, J. obtained his B.S. degree in chemistry from Washington State University. While at WSU, J. worked as an undergraduate research assistant for Dr. Alex D.Q. Li on projects pertaining to the chemical synthesis of fluorescent, macromolecular, self-assembling compounds aimed at developing nanotechnology for use as biosensors, nanoactuators and other nanotechnological purposes. Also during his tenure at Washington State University, J. was a two time National Deans List honoree. In the fall of 2005, J. enrolled at Oregon State Univerity with the intent of earning his Ph.D. in organic chemistry. In January of 2006, J. joined the Blakemore Research Group and is currently working on novel methodologies for the enantioselective synthesis of atropisomeric biaryl compounds. Outside of the laboratory, J. enjoys martial arts training, and reading classic Russian literature.

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John Melbardis obtained an M.A. in Experimental Psychology in 2005 from San Francisco State University, where he worked with Dr. Ted Steiner on conditioning of the autonomic nervous system employing biofeedback. During this time his interest in drugs with central nervous system activity led him to study organic chemistry as well. On completion of his degree, John enrolled at Oregon State University with the goal to pursue graduate work in organic synthesis. In 2006, John joined the Blakemore Research Group and recently concluded work that culminated in total syntheses of all diastereomeric forms of the sparteine group quinolizidine bases. He is currently working toward a concise synthesis of thebaine, the biogenetic precursor of morphine.

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Chao Wang was born in Sichuan, P. R. China, and obtained BS (2000) and MS (2003) degrees from Lanzhou University. After three years of working in the chemical industry in China, she moved to Oregon to pursue a PhD degree in organic chemistry at OSU. Chao's research concerns the continued exploration of 8,8´-biquinolyl chemistry with a focus on the development of applications for these novel heterocyclic biaryl molecules in enantioselective catalysis. Beside her studies, Chao also enjoys playing table tennis and badminton, cooking gourmet food, hiking around Oregon, and listening to music.

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